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BG gets senior night victory

Nolan Fortman couldn't have asked for a better way to celebrate senior night.

The 6-foot-2 Buffalo Grove forward was in the starting lineup Friday night with fellow seniors Joseph Faraci, Joey Pinakidis and Jack Lenard as the Bison faced visiting Hersey.

"It was exciting," Fortman said. "It was awesome to start the game with the three other seniors, guys I've played with for four years. What a great way to go out."

As excited as Fortman was to begin the game, he was even more satisfied with the final result.

Buffalo Grove rallied in the second half to post a 76-67 Mid-Suburban East win.

"We had a huge crowd tonight," Fortman said. "And we got a ton of support."

"Oh man, there was a lot of emotion out there," Faraci added. "I had my teammates to back me up. The final score shows just how much hard work we've put in practice."

Hersey controlled the game in the opening minutes. The Huskies jumped out to an early lead behind 7 first-quarter points from senior forward Zach Cooper.

The Huskies extended to a 36-30 advantage at halftime. But in the final two quarters the tide turned BG's way.

The Bison still trailed by 5 points late in the third quarter.

But in the space of about a minute, they turned the disadvantage into a 49-45 lead behind a couple of 3-pointers from sophomore Zach Fricke and baskets by Pinakidis and Colin Calcagno.

"The guys executed the game plan to perfection in the second half," said BG coach Keith Peterson. "Joey (Pinakidis) was aggressive all night. We needed a guy to step up and he was the guy tonight."

BG sophomore center Mac Camardo started a strong Bison defensive effort in the final quarter with a quick steal, and the home team steadily pulled away to open up a 71-62 advantage with 1:22 left.

Hersey fought back to within 72-65 after Joseph Coffaro (17 points) hit 2 free throws.

The Huskies had chances shortly after to cut the lead to 4 but three consecutive 3-point attempts rimmed out.

Pinakidis helped close out the game with 4 straight free throws in the final moments.

Mark Milligan led the Huskies with 20 points while Cooper added 15 and Kevin Starr scored 13.

Pinakidis led the way for BG with a game-high 22 points. Fricke scored 12 points with four clutch 3-point baskets.

Camardo pitched in with 15 points for Peterson's team, and the coach couldn't say enough good things about his group of seniors.

Peterson and assistant coach Dave Sczepanski posed for pictures with the seniors after the game.

"This means a lot to me personally because I coached these guys when they were freshman," Peterson said. "This was a great win for them and a great win for the team."

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